Wednesday workout:
Run – Seven 800s at about 6:47 mile pace (ugh!). Last one in 3:18 (6:36 mile pace!). I did feel a little bit like I was going to puke, though:/
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So, last night was pretty awesome. All day yesterday I was exhausted from a long day of school and a limited amount of sleep the night before (for some reason I had a bout with insomnia that night), but my night totally made up for my long and tired day.

The night first started to turn around with these:

Ohhhh yes…chocolate-covered strawberries! Un-be-lievable. I made them as a surprise for my friend, and it was realllllly hard not to eat them all before I took them to her. I may have taste-tested one–just one! I was just making sure they tasted okay and were good enough for her. I mean, that’s what a true friend does, right?;)

My friend also shared her gift with me and the other girls…so I may have eaten a lot more later. Chocolate-covered strawberries for dinner? Sure!:)

Then, I came home to a comment from my friend saying she had tried my stuffed shells recipe and loved it! It makes me so happy to have been able to share an awesome recipe! That’s part of the reason I wanted to start this blog!:)

And finally, I was SO excited to get a comment on my blog from Janae at hungryrunnergirl.com! I lover her blog times infinity and her blog was part of what inspired me to start my own! I may have hyperventilated a little bit when I saw her comment. This just topped off a great night!

And today was even more awesomer. (I like to make up words sometimes.)

Today I finally got to make some of the recipes I’ve been wanting to try and bought all the stuff for during my grocery storebattle visit on Sunday.

It was so yummy and INCREDIBLY filling. I could barely finish it. Also keep in mind cocoa powder doesn’t have any sugar in it (I am not a big time baker and did not know that before today). For this recipe you cook the oatmeal with half of a banana in it, and it makes the oats taste like banana–so yummy! Get ready to see a lot of pictures of this, because I may be eating it every day for the rest of my life.

Then I got to cooking and dancing around my kitchen to the Black Eyed Peas and Bruno Mars!

Now this is my idea of a beautiful sight!

Don’t worry, that was for two different recipes, not one. First I made a batch of a turkey and kale chili from a recipe my friend gave me! It was supposed to be for buffalo chili, but I had a ton of ground turkey meat I needed to use, so I used that instead. And I cooked it in the crock pot she gave me…what a coincidence!:)

Beautiful! I was feeling like an overachiever so I also made some homemade cornbread to go with it!

My workout today was on the track with my superstar friends, Karen and Melle! We all felt kind of crummy today (we think because it’s our recovery week, so we’re still resting up after a hard couple of weeks of workouts). Thank goodness we were running together, because I would NOT have put in a good workout on my own. Never underestimate the benefits of running with friends!:)

I felt pretty drained during the speed workout, and started to play mind games a bit with myself. Luckily, I still managed to put in some decent times. It’s comforting to feel like I am getting faster and in better shape and even on crummy days I can still do alright for myself! I’m excited to see how my four mile race goes next Saturday!

After our speed workout I was SO ready to eat my chili!

Sadly, the cornbread was not as good as it looked:(. The chili was delish, though!

And some more fruits/veggies…

So many food pictures! Sorry guys! I’ll try to include more pictures of actual people in the future, but today was just too good of a cooking day not to document!:)

PS, I just realized it’s my BIRTHDAY next week!!! OMG…how did that happen? How is it March already?!?

Hey! Oh I’m sorry that the web site didn’t say. I use whatever is in my cupboard, really. Usually some oregano/basil/parsley and some pepper. I added a little bit of salt the first time bc I had used low-sodium broth but with the keilbasa it did NOT need it. So I say no salt unless you do a different meat.

I need to add the chili recipe!:) I’ll email it to you for now, though!